Alcohol Prices

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Yeah, but unfortunately the $1.99 drink of the day is long gone... How I pine for those!!

That must have been way before my time.

[2chiefs]

4 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

That must have been way before my time.

LOL

Late 90's - 1996 was our first cruise....

They used to have the drinks of the day for $1.99 and Screwdrivers and Bloody Marys were also $1.99 every day all day.

[Russ Lomas]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:35 AM, poocher said:

Going without this trip.  I struggled in March (when the price with gratuities was $71 per day) to get what I perceived to be my money’s worth.  I don’t drink smoothies or specialty coffees, had a few waters but also found the ship’s water tasted perfectly fine, maybe 1 soda per day.  By day 4 I was ordering drinks I really didn’t want.  Will be Diamond after this cruise so the vouchers will be plenty.

Could not agree with you more.  As a recent new Diamond member as well, the 4 drinks daily were good enough for me (though I know others that would burn through 4 drinks before noon).

[Ocean Boy]

7 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

LOL

Late 90's - 1996 was our first cruise....

They used to have the drinks of the day for $1.99 and Screwdrivers and Bloody Marys were also $1.99 every day all day.

Wow, very nice!

[poocher]

15 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

LOL

Late 90's - 1996 was our first cruise....

They used to have the drinks of the day for $1.99 and Screwdrivers and Bloody Marys were also $1.99 every day all day.

And I was making $7.50 an hour.  

[Russ Lomas]

On 10/5/2022 at 5:49 PM, poocher said:

And I was making $7.50 an hour.  

So $7.50 per hour divided by the $1.99 per drink equals one hour of work for 3.77 drinks per hour worked.  Multiply the $13 drink price by 3.77 and you have to be earning $49 per hour to purchase the same number of drinks.  While some do make this, there are an awful lot of people not making that.

[poocher]

Ok hubby was making $7.50. Me? $5.25.  My point is of course prices were lower in the 90’s.  Heck my parents rented a 5 room apartment for $45 per month in the 60’s.  

[2chiefs]

22 hours ago, poocher said:

Ok hubby was making $7.50. Me? $5.25.  My point is of course prices were lower in the 90’s.  Heck my parents rented a 5 room apartment for $45 per month in the 60’s.  

I agree with Russ Lomas' point that the drinks have probably gone up higher than wages in general have gone up. 🙂 

 

[mpdog42]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:28 AM, Ret MP said:

 

That's the President of the just formed "Cruise Line Passenger Association"😁

[adolfo2]

On 10/5/2022 at 5:34 PM, 2chiefs said:

LOL

Late 90's - 1996 was our first cruise....

They used to have the drinks of the day for $1.99 and Screwdrivers and Bloody Marys were also $1.99 every day all day.

Not defending the high beverage prices BUT we're spending LESS today on the actual cruise fare than back in 1996 :-0

[Ret MP]

3 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

That's the President of the just formed "Cruise Line Passenger Association"😁

I'd vote for him in that capacity.  

[2chiefs]

5 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

Not defending the high beverage prices BUT we're spending LESS today on the actual cruise fare than back in 1996 :-0

That's True!!! Our very first 7-day cruise was an inside cabin for $2600 ...

Edited October 9, 2022 by 2chiefs

[clskinsfan]

6 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

Not defending the high beverage prices BUT we're spending LESS today on the actual cruise fare than back in 1996 :-0

True. But there are also 3 to 4 times as many people per sailing as well. It is all relative. 

 

Just saw another thread today stating drink prices had been raised to $14. I cruise in 3 weeks and purchased the beverage package many months ago on a good sale. So now I will most likely be springing an extra buck per drink on this cruise. Not like its going to bankrupt me. But it all keeps adding up. Services removed, food quality declining and so forth. It just isnt as good a product or value as it used to be. 

[poocher]

If the standard drink price increases, the DBP will cover the new price regardless of when you purchased it.  We had DBP during the transition from $12 to $13 and were not charged the difference.

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

Not defending the high beverage prices BUT we're spending LESS today on the actual cruise fare than back in 1996 :-0

Back then there was less capacity for the demand and the cruise lines could get away with the relatively higher cost. Now they have to fill up all these cabins so they stand a chance of getting people to bite on all the add on costs. An empty cabin generates zero revenue and the crew still needs to be paid.

[mpdog42]

3 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

True. But there are also 3 to 4 times as many people per sailing as well. It is all relative. 

 

Just saw another thread today stating drink prices had been raised to $14. I cruise in 3 weeks and purchased the beverage package many months ago on a good sale. So now I will most likely be springing an extra buck per drink on this cruise. Not like its going to bankrupt me. But it all keeps adding up. Services removed, food quality declining and so forth. It just isnt as good a product or value as it used to be. 

Plus the extreme low pricing on some cruise lines have caused them a lot of Security Problems

[adolfo2]

19 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

That's True!!! Our very first 7-day cruise was an inside cabin for $2600 ...

That's essentially the price of a balcony today. 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 10/9/2022 at 4:50 AM, adolfo2 said:

Not defending the high beverage prices BUT we're spending LESS today on the actual cruise fare than back in 1996 :-0

Totally true, in fact I still have the receipt from our first cruise for our honeymoon in January 1979 on Sitmar TSS Fairsea.  An inside cabin was $998 pp for a seven day Mexican Riviera.  That was a little less than my monthly salary per person.  

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Frequently discussed and there's no clear answer for everybody.  There's something to be said for convenance, also.  I just paid $72 for a Thanksgiving cruise.  It had been $68 and $78.  I'm not sure I would pay more than $80.  Between, a couple of bloody Mary's, few beers, pre-dinner cocktail, dinner wine, cappuccino, post dinner cocktail, and waters it all adds up.  We also like to have a bottle of wine in the cabin for a glass on the balcony at sunset and 40% off a bottle makes onboard almost reasonable.   

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Frequently discussed and there's no clear answer for everybody.  There's something to be said for convenance, also.  I just paid $72 for a Thanksgiving cruise.  It had been $68 and $78.  I'm not sure I would pay more than $80.  Between, a couple of bloody Mary's, few beers, pre-dinner cocktail, dinner wine, cappuccino, post dinner cocktail, and waters it all adds up.  We also like to have a bottle of wine in the cabin for a glass on the balcony at sunset and 40% off a bottle makes onboard almost reasonable.   

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Frequently discussed and there's no clear answer for everybody.  There's something to be said for convenance, also.  I just paid $72 for a Thanksgiving cruise.  It had been $68 and $78.  I'm not sure I would pay more than $80.  Between, a couple of bloody Mary's, few beers, pre-dinner cocktail, dinner wine, cappuccino, post dinner cocktail, and waters it all adds up.  We also like to have a bottle of wine in the cabin for a glass on the balcony at sunset and 40% off a bottle makes onboard almost reasonable.   

[Pandamonia]

Royal is so uncompetitive in Europe right now they have halved the drinks package cost on Euro sailings. i just paid 39 GBP for 7 days which is around 45 USD currently per day. Offer is on 2022 and 2023 sailings. The Wonder was very empty with entire sections of inside cabins closed off on the ship with even half the windjammer closed on certain days. 

 

I just got 200GBP off using CAS discount on an ocean view with free balcony upgrade for June. Paid less than 100 GBP per night pp and the discount drinks package makes the cruise feel like 2019 pricing. 

 

Purchased the UDP and got half of the money back given they can not cook a steak correctly in ANY restaurant on the first try and basically it starts to become a pretty economical holiday on board royal again... 

 

Meanwhile Royal thinks selling 200 USD cabanas on the deck which were empty whole cruise is a good way to make money.... 

 

I cant wait for the coming economic recession as it might focus them on getting the basics right and pricing things correctly as over 100USD per day for drinks is obscene.